Virginia State parks new site specific policy

[johnvb]

Anyone here who camps at the VA state parks have an opinion on this?

One of the reasons we enjoy the state parks was the fact that the reservations were non-specific. We like camping 4 or 5 nights in a row, say from a Thursday to a Sunday or Monday. Showed up (with reservations) and picked a site. Then if there is a day or two with inclement weather, no biggie.

Now when I check the Reserve America website, the campground sites are tied up for the weekend, with holes before and after. Doesn't seem like an "improvement " to me. Now no different than the competition. The camp host are probably digging it, less work for them.

Epic fail, Virginia State Parks! :M (rant over)

[monkey44]

Some CGs take away the remaining days if not occupying site the first night.

That's good for walk-ins, as long as you know the policy. The problem sometimes, a traveler won't know about walk-in policy - and the website says, "totally booked" ...

We never believe the totally booked signs on the web - we only believe it if we call the CG directly and ask. Otherwise, we go and take our chances, especially when on our way to a destination. We've almost always had good luck, and very few times over all these years camping have we not found a spot, or at least some kind of overflow temporarily.

We stop early, not at the last minute, and we don't often go to major attraction areas - at least without some sort of planning (like off-season).

That doesn't work for families with date issues - but it works for us. but it still would be unfair to book every site via reservation. Every public CG should have a portion available to walk-in traffic.

[toedtoes]

There's always going to be those who are willing to throw away money on multiple reservations - but with the right cancellation fees and policies, it will reduce them.

[Bigdog]

Something else is gonna happen and that's that folks are going to figure out the part about reserving a number of sites at different sites and then at the last minute the ones they aren't going to use and eat the res fees. Oregon and Washington figgered that out and now you have a moving cancellation fee based on when you cancel. It has stopped some folks, but not all.

[toedtoes]

Southwind98 wrote:

toedtoes wrote:
Two scenarios:

I can only camp from Friday to Sunday and all the nice sites are full by the time I arrive and I can only get the site next to the bathroom. Now with reserved sites, I can actually get a decent site for the weekend.

I can arrive before the crowds and have always been able to get a decent site. Now because people can reserve specific sites, I get stuck with the site next the bathrooms.

Let's face it - there is no way to please everybody.

I thinks toedtoes sums it up best. I actually took part in the survey about a year ago on about changing the reservation policy and stated basically it's a catch twenty-two. Great if you can arrive Sunday - Thursday and have a lot of sites to pick from. Not so great to arrive Friday evening, maybe delayed because of traffic and sites left are to small to fit on. Really I just wouldn't chance the weekend trip for nonspecific sites and it limited me for just camping in my favorite Virginia parks for the weekend. But I can see the other side where now the reservation schedule has nine months of sites booked only on the weekends and you can't get a larger block of time without having to move sites.

That's it, if the system changes to benefit one type of camper, it ends up messing things up for another type of camper. It's impossible to establish a system that works for every option:

1. The planners - plan camping trips and reserve campsites well in advance (need to know they have a site before driving 3+ hours to nowhere)

2. The wingers - can't or don't want to make plans, just want to say "let's go camping today/tomorrow", jump in the RV, and go to their favorite campground

3. The weekenders - can only head out to camp on Friday or Saturday

4. The weekdayers - can camp during weekdays, weekends, whenever

5. The longtermers - camp more than 1 week at a stretch

6. The shorttimers - camp for 1 week or less

For me, I'm a planner, weekdayer, shorttimer. Policies that work best for me will make it all but impossible for the wingers and longtermers. Policies that work best for the wingers and weekenders will make it all but impossible for me.

[pegdiver]

I like certain sites because they are level and we fit.
Not a problem if you fit anywhere or all sites are the same.
I don't like that I am going to be charged an extra $6 a nite because I am from out of state. State Parks are not cheap anymore.
I also don't like that I can't print out a map of the campsites anymore.

[Bob806]

johnvb wrote:

Bob806 wrote:
Funny you started this thread, as I'm totally frustrated with the Reserve America in regards to VSPs. I was looking into visiting Douthat this fall, for the first time ever, but the system employed by Reserve America is awful. It looks like the entire CG is full, when the folks at their campground office told me it's not the case at all. Makes things difficult for first time visitors to any park....I like being able to drive in and scope out the best of what's available when I get there. Like others have mentioned, that seems to be a thing of the past and it's no good.

Douthat is a gorgeous park and area. If you have a decent size RV, you are going to want to stay in the Whispering Pines section. The furthest from the lake, but the newest section. I imagine during the fall "leaf colors" season, the place fills up completely.

I may end up at Bolar Mountain (another Reserve America system) if I can't resolve the Douthat SP confusion. We're looking to visit an area we've never been too.

[spoon059]

I prefer having site specific reservations. We usually camp with at least one other family, often times 4 or 5 families. Being able to reserve 5 sites together is preferred. At non site specific parks, they may have 20 open spots, but maybe not enough together for a group.

Perhaps a compromise would be to reserve a site (non specific) for the flat fee. If someone like me wants to reserve a group of sites (specific), you pay the flat fee plus a nominal site reservation fee ($2-$4 fee). Having that slight fee will hopefully prevent people from requesting specific sites if they don't really need it, and will allow larger groups to have a better chance of camping together.

[Southwind98]

toedtoes wrote:
Two scenarios:

I can only camp from Friday to Sunday and all the nice sites are full by the time I arrive and I can only get the site next to the bathroom. Now with reserved sites, I can actually get a decent site for the weekend.

I can arrive before the crowds and have always been able to get a decent site. Now because people can reserve specific sites, I get stuck with the site next the bathrooms.

Let's face it - there is no way to please everybody.

I thinks toedtoes sums it up best. I actually took part in the survey about a year ago on about changing the reservation policy and stated basically it's a catch twenty-two. Great if you can arrive Sunday - Thursday and have a lot of sites to pick from. Not so great to arrive Friday evening, maybe delayed because of traffic and sites left are to small to fit on. Really I just wouldn't chance the weekend trip for nonspecific sites and it limited me for just camping in my favorite Virginia parks for the weekend. But I can see the other side where now the reservation schedule has nine months of sites booked only on the weekends and you can't get a larger block of time without having to move sites.

[GMandJM]

You're right, NoVA RT: At Chippokes, the site-specific reservation fee is $36 and the non-site-specific is $33.

[NoVa_RT]

I was just at First Landing State Park, and there was quite a variety of sites - some just for tenting, some for RVs up to 20 feet, some for RVs up to 30 feet & some for larger units. I had a non-site-specific reservation, and had my choice of 4 30-foot sites. One looked somewhat unlevel, one would have had me configured a bit awkwardly to use the site, and 2 were OK. I was in a Class B, so I might have had more difficulty in a larger unit.

I strolled through the site-specific area, and it appeared to be mostly larger sites, some quite nice. I believe people pay a bit extra for the site-specific reservations, and that seems fair. If people are worried about fitting into a space, or arriving so late they'll have a poor choice of sites, they have options.

Of course, any reservation system should have a sufficient penalty for canceling to discourage folks from tying up sites they don't really intend to use.

[johnvb]

Bob806 wrote:
Funny you started this thread, as I'm totally frustrated with the Reserve America in regards to VSPs. I was looking into visiting Douthat this fall, for the first time ever, but the system employed by Reserve America is awful. It looks like the entire CG is full, when the folks at their campground office told me it's not the case at all. Makes things difficult for first time visitors to any park....I like being able to drive in and scope out the best of what's available when I get there. Like others have mentioned, that seems to be a thing of the past and it's no good.

Douthat is a gorgeous park and area. If you have a decent size RV, you are going to want to stay in the Whispering Pines section. The furthest from the lake, but the newest section. I imagine during the fall "leaf colors" season, the place fills up completely.

[GMandJM]

Yep, I noticed that, as well. Some sites are reservable, others are not. And it wouldn't appear that any of the 18 RV sites at Chippokes are set aside specifically as walk-up only.

RV sites 1 - 7 are reservable

And the highest number of available non-site-specific reservations is listed as 11 on random dates.

At least that will keep people from making the trip there and finding no spaces are available.

[RGar974417]

GMandJM wrote:
Thanks for the heads up on the subject. I see what you mean now.

One of my fave sites at Chippokes isn't reservable. (Kinda of wish it was.)

Looks like the reservable sites have photos now.

Actually,Chippokes has some reservable sites.I know this because I resevered one for the end of September. Many state parks are like that and I prefer that so I know I can reserve my favorite site.

[magnusfide]

johnvb wrote:
Anyone here who camps at the VA state parks have an opinion on this?

One of the reasons we enjoy the state parks was the fact that the reservations were non-specific. We like camping 4 or 5 nights in a row, say from a Thursday to a Sunday or Monday. Showed up (with reservations) and picked a site. Then if there is a day or two with inclement weather, no biggie.

Now when I check the Reserve America website, the campground sites are tied up for the weekend, with holes before and after. Doesn't seem like an "improvement " to me. Now no different than the competition. The camp host are probably digging it, less work for them.

Epic fail, Virginia State Parks! :M (rant over)

I agree with you.